Prince William has kept his late mother, Princess Diana, close to his heart in the decades since her tragic death.
“Remembering my mother, today and every day,” William, 43, wrote via social media on Sunday, March 15. “Thinking of all those who are remembering someone they love today. Happy Mother’s Day.”
Mother’s Day is celebrated across the United Kingdom in March. For the Prince of Wales, he marked the occasion with a rare family photo.
In the upload, Diana wore a pink sweater as she played with a toddler-aged William in a rose-filled field. The image is reportedly from William’s “private collection,” according to royal reporter Rebecca English.
“This picture is from Prince William’s private collection and is not believed to have been seen before,” Daily Mail columnist English tweeted. “He was aged 2 when it was taken.”
Diana tragically died in an August 1997 car crash when she was 36. She is survived by sons William and Prince Harry, who were 15 and 12 at the time. (Diana shared her children with her ex-husband, King Charles III.)
In the years since her death, William and Harry have both honored her legacy.
“I have taken some guidance from what my mother did,” William, for his part, said in his We Can End Homelessness documentary in 2024. “When I was very small my mother started talking about homelessness, much like I do now with my children on the school run.”
William, who shares three kids with wife Princess Kate Middleton, further recalled how Diana would take both him and his brother to visit local shelters.
“When you’re [that] small, you’re curious, and you’re kind of trying to work out what’s going on,” he said of the experience. “You just ask the question, like, ‘Well, why are they sitting there?’ And my mother would talk to us a bit about why they were there. It definitely had a really big impact.”
According to William, he was particularly “anxious” the first time Diana took him to London’s The Passage charity.
“I’d never been to anything like that before and I was a bit anxious as to what to expect,” he said in the doc. “My mother went about her usual part of making everyone feel relaxed and having a laugh and joking with everyone.”
In addition to William’s poignant Mother’s Day tribute, the official royal family X account also honored the likes of Queen Elizabeth II, her mother and Queen Camilla on Sunday.
“Wishing Mothers everywhere, and those who might be missing their Mums today, a restful Mothering Sunday,” a social media statement read, alongside throwback family portraits.
